Tip of the Day

You have customers and potential customers, who are upset with your food truck as I write this. I can almost guarantee that there are far more of them than you realize and because of that you are obliviously losing out on some of their business. The only way to capture those lost customers is to realize that you’re making this easy mistake and change your behavior.

This is one of the easiest ways for a food truck to make a mistake on social media, because we typically don’t think of silence as an insult. But in a few circumstances, it’s a huge let down. Here are a few examples:

Ignoring Complaints – This is the obvious one. When a customer complains, they expect a response. So do your other customers. The way you respond says a lot to your audience about how they can expect to be treated.

Ignoring Compliments – This one’s less obvious and possibly a bigger problem. A customer who pours their heart and soul into a positive comment is likely to feel cheated if you never respond. Obviously, you can’t please everybody, but it’s good to at least be aware that this happens.

Ignoring Questions – When you leave a customer hanging, it can look bad, especially when it happens out in the open where other consumers can see it.

It’s impossible to please everybody, but you will save your food truck a great deal of alienation if you invest as much as you can in customer interaction. Most of them don’t understand just how busy a food truck owners is but a large minority of them will take your lack of response personally.

One of the most critical traits of an effective food truck owner is credibility. If your staff doesn’t believe in your ability to do your job, you’ll struggle to motivate them.

Don’t assume your credibility is apparent. Make an effort to establish it from the beginning by showing your willingness to work hard, modeling the behaviors you’re trying to encourage in others. Always be prepared for events and catering jobs. Hold others accountable, treating them fairly and consistently. And, use your power and influence for the benefit of others.

Remember that once you’ve established it, it’s important to continue to demonstrate your trustworthiness credibility for the long term.

For food truck owners it’s not enough to have a Facebook or Twitter page alone, you also need a Twitter account. What do you mean you’re not on LinkedIn? Well, at least you have a blog on WordPress or Tumblr, right?

While each social media platform has different features, layouts, and functionality, one thing can always remain the same – your food truck’s branding and presence. The best way to do this is to secure consistent usernames on each platform.

Customers should be able to type in your username from one network to the next to find you easily and not accidentally stumble upon a personal account created by someone outside of your mobile food business.

For those starting out you have to make your presence consistent across multiple social media networks. so make sure to grab your truck’s branded username even if you don’t want to set up and use a particular social media account right now.